Water sprinklers



y 8, 1962 A. J. GREEN 3,033,469

WATER SPRINKLERS Filed April 17, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 8, 1962 A. J.GREEN 3,033,469

WATER SPRINKLERS Filed April 17, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United StatesPatent Ofihce 3,033,459 Patented May 8, "1962 3,033,469 WATER SPRINKLERSAlfred James Green, Bournemouth, England, assignor to WrightRainLimited, Riugwood, England Filed Apr. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 103,334 Claimspriority, application Great Britain Aug. 5, 1966 3 Claims. (Cl. 239-230)This invention relates to water sprinklers of the 510W rotary type,particularly designed for use in orchards, gardens, golf courses, lawnsand the like.

The type of sprinkler to which the invention particularly relates isthat described and shown in United States patent specification No.1,997,901 wherein basically the sprinkler comprises a sprinkler body oftubular shape to provide a water channel, and mounted for rotation abouta vertical axis on a support member, with some form of frictional gasketor packing in the bearing to oppose the rotation of the sprinkler body.The body usually terminates at the upper end in one or more arms e.g. 1nthe form of a Y, and at the end of an arm is a jet nozzle. A horizontalswing arm is rotationally carried on a post and rotates against atorsional spring surrounding the post. One end of the swing arm isprovided with a spoon which lies in the path of the water jet from oneof the nozzles. In consequence the water jet, by impinging on the spoon,drivesthe swing arm in a direction of rotation away from the jet, whilethe sprinkler body remains stationary due to the opposition. of thegasket in the bearing therefor. The swing arm rotation is made againstthe action of the resisting torsion spring, so that after a given are ofswing the inertia of the arm is expended and the spring returns the arminthe opposite directionthe forward direction-with a velocity whichcauses it to break through the water jet and strike the sprinkler bodywith such a blow as to turn it one step in the forward direction. Thesprinkler thus makes a step by step rotation in the forward directionalternately with reverse swings of the swing arm, and this action willbe continuous through a full circle unless some form of sectoring orpart circle control mechanism is provided.

Thus in some known forms of sprinklers of the type to which theinvention relates, there has been provided sectoring mechanism which maywork in one of the following ways:

In one arrangement, when the sprinkler has reached the limit of itssector, an anvil piece is brought into proximity to the swing arm sothat in swinging away reverse direction-from the nozzle because of thethrust exercised against the spoon of the arm by the jet of wateremitting from the nozzle, the swing arm strikes the anvil beforecompleting its reverse swing. The part of the arm which strikes thenozzle is the rear part behind the pivot, and each blow against theanvilwhich is attached to the sprinkler body but protrudes outside thearmdrives the body of the sprinkler step by step in the reversedirection to the forward direction which is that normally taken when thesprinkler is rotated by the impact of the returning swing arm. In short,forward rotation of the sprinkler body takes place at the end of thereturn swing of the arm, and reverse rotation of the sprinkler takesplace at the end of the curtailed reverse swing of the arm.Consequently, the impacts are more frequent during reverse rotation andthe speed of reverse rotation is faster than in forward rotation.Resulting from these two factors, the evenness of water distributionduring reverse rotation deteriorates considerably. When the sprinklerreaches the other limit of its sector, the anvil piece is removed fromits proximity to the swing arm and the sprinkler rotates in the originali.e. forward, direction in a normal manner.

In another arrangement, a wedge piece is fitted in lieu of the spoon atthe end of the swing arm. This wedge piece is pivoted about its centreso that either face may 'be presented to the jet of water emitting fromthe nozzle. As a result the swing arm can be thrust away in eitherdirection according to which face of the Wedge is facing the water jet,and the direction of thrust will determine the direction of rotation ofthe sprinkler. The back end of the swing arm is fitted with a pivotingstriker plate which strikes an anvil-forming part of the Sprinkler bodyto cause it to rotate. The striker plate normally prevents the swing armfrom being thrust too far out of the water jet and consequently thereturn swing of the arm is short and fairly slow. When the sprinklerreaches the limit of its sector, the striker plate swings over so thatit can hit the anvil on the opposite side and thus reverse the rotationof the sprinkler body. The last swing of the arm is thereforeunrestricted and travels much further away from the water jet. Itsreturn swing is consequently longer and faster and the wedge piece iscarried through the water jet to the other side. This causes the wedgepiece to pivot and present the other face to the water jet duringsubsequent swings of the arm, and thus the arm swings in the otherdirection so that the striker plate hits the anvil on the opposite sideto turn the sprinkler body in the reverse direction. When the sprinklerreaches the other limit of its sector, the same action takes place toreturn the sprinkler in its original direction of rotation.

in these known arrangements of sprinkler, setting levers are provided toenable the arc of the sector which is to be irrigated to be selected andpreset by hand.

As will be understood from the aforesaid summarised description of knownsectoring or part circle sprinklers, the mechanism is complicated, whilethe efilciency of the sprinkling is aifected because of unevenness ofwater application whilst the sprinkler is in reverse motion.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simpler form ofsectoring mechanism and one which produces a more efficient wateringaction in that the reverse motion of the sprinkler at the end of astep-by-step cycle to the commencing position of the cycle is for allpractical purposes-instantaneous and under direct control of the waterjet pressure so that norm-ally the return would be difficult to see withthe eye.

According to the invention the improved sprinkler of the type referredto includes an adjustable lock by which at a predetermined point in thenormal rotation of the sprinkler body the water jet transmits rotarymotion through the swing arm to the body in reverse direction to restorethe body to the beginning of a sectoring arc whereat the lock is openedand the body commences its step-by-step forward motion under the controlof the swing arm in the usual manner.

The opening and closing positions of the lock are presettable topredetermine the extent of a sectoring arc and cycle, thesequence ofoperation of which will be continuous and repeated so long as the waterjet is operating or the lock is in operative condition.

In carrying out the invention, the lock may consist of lock closing andlock opening setting levers which cooperate with a reaction link mountedon the sprinkler body for displacement into the path of the swing armwhen the link strikes the lock closing lever, whereby the swing arm isconnected withthe body to turn the same under the impetus of the waterjet in the reverse direction until the link strikes the lock openingsetting lever and is thereby disengaged from the swing arm.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, one practicalexample thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing in which:

FIGURE lis an elevation, FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a part sectional plan of FIGURE 1.

The sprinkler comprises a support in the form of a pipe coupling nut 1which is screwed to a stationary stand pipe (not shown). Coaxiallymounted in the nut is the usual type of tubular sprlngler body 2 with asingle arm or Y head 3 and a spigot post 4 on which is rotationallymounted a counter balance swing arm 5 with the usual tontion spring 6surrounding the post 4 for controlling the swing arm in the normalstep-by-step forward rotation (A, FIGURE 3) of the body.

The swing arm 5 has a spoon head 7 which lies in front of one of a waterjet nozzle =8 on the head 3. On the counter balance end 9 of the arm onthe opposite side of the spigot post 4 there is an angular locking face1% which forms part of the water reaction lock which constitutes theessential feature of this invention. As part of this lock there isprovided on the body a radially projecting horizontal pivot 11 for areaction link pawl 12 having one upwardly projecting arm 13 adapted bymeans of a catchhead 14 for co-operating with the angular locking face10. The pawl 12 has a depending arm 15 lying between a pair of settinglevers 16 and 17 projecting radially from the support 1 and angularlyadjustable about the vertical axis thereof by means of 'angularly spacednotches 18 in the support 1 and pins 19 or like on the levers, or otherindexing means (FIGURE 3) may be provided.

One lever 17 is the locking closing lever, and the other lever 16 is thelocking opening lever. The faces of the levers 16 and 17 whichco-operate with the depending pawl arm 15 are preferably curvedconcavely as indicated in FIGURE 3 (2-0) to the pawl arm 15. A coilspring 21 between a flange 22 on the sprinkler body and the levers 16and 17 presses the latter against a bearing flange 23 on the support 1so as to keep the levers in place while allowing them to be angularlyset to the required sectoring arc. It is only necessary for the lever 16(lock closing) to be adjustable, but both may be so, if desired.

As will be seen the sprinkler body turns about a centre spigot axis 24around which the coil spring 21 is mounted, and interposed between thebody flange 22 and the spring 21 is a control gasket 25 which providesthe necessary friction to hold the sprinkler body stationary while theswing arm 5 is turned backward by the water jet from the nozzle 8.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing the quick return of thesprinkler body 2 at the end of a sectoring arc is brought about bylocking the spoon 7 of the swing arm 5 in the water jet from nozzle 8when reverse rotation is required, so that the thrust of the water jetin the spoon produces a reaction in the direction opposite to normalforward rotation (A). The rear end S of the swing arm transmits thisreaction to the sprinkler body through the pawl catch 14 which engagesthe face It} and thus locks the swing arm to the body, this engagementbeing caused by the pawl arm 15 striking the lock closing setting lever17 at the end of the sector arc. As this reaction is continuous duringthe period of locking, both the swing arm 5 and body 3 are flicked backtogether until the locking pawl catch 14 is disengaged horn the rearface of the swing arm when the depending arm of the pawl strikes thelock opening lever 16. In particular the sequence of operation is asfollows:

On starting, the sprinkler rotates in the usual way in the forwarddirection A until the depending arm 15 of the pawl 12the operatingarm-is rocked anti-clockwise (FIGURE 1) by contact with the lock closingsetting lever 17. This rocking of the pawl engages the catch on theupper arm 13 with the angular locking face 10 on the counter balance end9 of the swing arm, whereupon the sprinkler body 3 is rotated rapidly inthe reverse direction to A by means of the water jet from nozzle 8 beingkept in the swing arm spoon 7. At the end of the return are the pawloperating arm 15 is unlocked by striking the lock opening setting lever16 which thus disengages 1 the pawl catch 14 from the locking face 10 onthe swing arm. The swing arm now being free from the body 3, thesprinkler rotation reverts to the normal step-by-stcp direction, and thesequence of step-by-step movement A and quick return is repeated as longas required by maintaining the jet.

The step-by-step movement is evident from the construction. Sufiice tosay that the jet of water impinging on the scoop 7 turns the swing arm 5against the torsion spring 6, while the sprinkler body (with nozzle 8)rerelatively stationary due to the resistance of the gasket 25. When theenergy of the swing arm has been absorbed by the spring the latterreturns the swing arm in direction A until it swings through the waterjet and imparts against an anvil portion 26 which forms part of anoverhung arm 27 on the sprinkler body 3. This impact drives the bodyforward one step in the forward direction A, and the swing armimmediately swings back under the action of the jet to repeat theoperation.

The spigot post 4 on which the swing arm is rotationally mounted is heldin vertical position by a bearing support 28 on the overhung arm 27which also forms an anchor 29 for the control spring 6.

In practice it has been found that chattering of the locking pawl 12 mayoccur during its engagement with the swing arm 5. To obviate thischatter while allowing the pawl to act as required, there may beprovided some form of motion absorbing device. Thus, for example, thepivot 11 or" the pawl may carry friction washers 30 which engage betweenthe pawl and an adjusting nut 31 threaded on to the pivot spindle 11 toenable the friction pressure on the pawl to be adjusted as required.

I claim:

1. A water sprinkler, comprising a rotatable sprinkler body on which ismounted a swing arm and means whereby said hody is rotated step by stepin a sectoring arc under the action of a water jet issuing from saidbody and impinging on said arm in combination with a quick return devicehaving reaction link means between the body and the swing arm operableby body displacement at the end of said sectoring arc to lock the bodyto the swing arm whereby the body and swing arm return together underthe action of the water jet to the commencement point of the sectoringarc, and means displacing said reaction link means to effect release ofthe lock at said point whereby the body can re-commence its step-by-stepsectoring arc.

2. A water sprinkler comprising a support adapted for connection in awater line, a sprinkler body rotatably mounted on said support, a waternozzle radiating from said body for projecting a water jet, a swing armrotationally mounted upon a pivot post upstanding from said body abovethe nozzle, said swing arm having a water scoop at one end to lie in thepath of the water jet from said nozzle, and at the opposite end acounter balance having a locking face, a torsion spring embracing saidpost and anchored at one end to the swing arm and at the opposite end toan upstanding anvil arm from said body, whereby the body can sectorthrough an arc step by step in one direction under the action of thewater jet, locking means operable at the end of said are to connect theswing arm to the body so that the water jet effects a quick return ofthe body to the commencement of said sector arc, said locking meanscomprising lock closing and lock opening levers mounted on the supportbeneath the body and angularly adjustable for varying said sectoringarc, a reaction link pawl mounted on said body on a pivot at rightangles to said swing arm pivot post, said pawl having an integraloperating arm disposed between said levers and a locking arm having acatch for engagement with the locking face of the counter balance.

3. A water sprinkler comprising a support, a sprinkler body rotatable onsaid support, means including a swing arm on said body for effectingstep by step rotation in a forward direction of said body about theswing arm axis under the action of a water jet from said body, areaction link between said body and said swing arm, an operating 'memberon said support arranged to displace said reaction link after apredetermined number of steps of said body thereby to effect lockingengagement of said link with the swing am so that the swing arm and bodyrotate together in the opposite return direction under the action of thewater jet, and a second member to displace the reaction link out ofengagement with said swing arm at a predetermined point in the returnrotation of said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

